Fringe: Pack your baggage, we’re going on a trip

Nothing to see here, just a few armed fugitives hanging out on your front lawn. NBD. (Fox)

AsteriskAstrid is awakened in the Harvard lab by a strange noise. Alarmed, she grabs her gun to go explore, only to find that the radio that they retrieved from the pocket universe is finally broadcasting some sort of signal, and that Bishop is standing there in the lab, awake, being weird. AsteriskAstrid interrupts a potential sexytimes moment between Pacey and Olivia to announce that 1. the radio is on and 2. Bishop has dropped acid. WELL, GREAT. Between Bishop’s hallucinated green fairy flitting around and his dead lab assistant in the corner, he’s going to be positively worthless just as things are starting to pick up.

Pacey tries to question his father as to what the beeping coming from the radio might mean, but aside from knowing that it’s in “A minor,” Bishop is clueless. And tripping. Hard. Pacey asks Bishop why he thought now would be good to drop acid, and Bishop explains that he was desperate to try to remember the plan before Mrs. Roboto removes his brain, again. Bishop is so terrified of becoming Scary Smart Bishop again, that he made an arrangement to have her do the Bishopectomy as soon as the plan is complete. But the other night, he woke up fully dressed and headed somewhere, but he doesn’t know where, and what if Scary Bishop takes over before the plan is implemented? Because what would we do if we had an episode where we didn’t have a false sense of urgency driving the entire plot that ultimately turns out to be completely meaningless? And in summary, he doesn’t want to lose Pacey or Olivia or AsteriskAstrid so he took some of the “black blotter” acid and is now seeing fairies and belligerent long-dead assistants.

Meanwhile, Olivia realizes that instead of trying to crack the radio code, maybe they should just triangulate where the signal is coming from and see what they find? That sounds a LOT easier, everyone agrees. And so while Bishop continues hallucinating his green fairy bringing him matches, and the moment Mrs. Roboto lost her arm, and now a red fairy because sure, the rest of the team call That One Rebel Guy (let’s just call him “Deus,” last name, “Machina”) and have him bring over the machina that triangulates the signal and traces it in the woods somewhere.

So, Pacey and Olivia drive out into the woods and yammer boringly about their relationship for a few until they find a bunch of dead Brown Shirts and the DHARMA van a Winnebago full of Uncle Rico Workman and DHARMA beer a skeleton. Must be this Mysterious Donald we’ve heard so much about! they assume for no good reason at all. But as Pacey goes to find where, exactly, the signal is coming from (The trees. The signal is actually being relayed from some dish thingies tied into the trees above [SO SUE ME, I DON’T KNOW RADIO TALK] and the broadcast isn’t actually originating from there), Olivia loots the dead and discovers that Uncle Rico Workman is actually YODA WEISS, OH NO, DEAD HE IS!

Olivia and Pacey call Bishop to see if he knows anything about a Yoda Weiss, and he’s like, Nope! Which isn’t all that surprising since Yoda was from a different timeline that only Olivia and Pacey can remember. And that’s how Yoda’s story is neatly tied up: he died off-screen years before all the current action while working for the Resistance. Also, no, Yoda isn’t Donald because Olivia says so based on some stuff that she just makes up out of nowhere, so time to let that particular theory die, nerds. R.I.P., YODA WEISS.

Meanwhile, back at the Harvard lab, Bishop is being tormented by Ghost Assistant, who is playing a bit of “hot & cold” with Bishop’s secrets. Ghost Assistant reminds Bishop of the Bishop he used to be: the one who would have gone straight to Observer HQ right now to prove to them how clever he was. Bishop conjures Mrs. Roboto to argue that this isn’t who he is anymore, but Dead Assistant is unmoved and leads him into his office where he finds a journal filled with his old pre-Bishopectomy ideas hidden beneath the floor.

Bishop suddenly finds himself with Ghost Assistant in the back of a cab in a rainy Manhattan, doing more acid and going through his journal, wondering why the phrase “black umbrella” is rattling around his head. Bishop realizes where he is, that he has betrayed Pacey by leaving the lab, and has a slight freak out, only to have Ghost Assistant insist that Nice Bishop isn’t who he really is. Why else is she here? Ghost Assistant explains that she, like the journal, represent things that Bishop would prefer to keep buried. Thanks, Ghost Assistant! We never would have figured out that very obvious metaphor without you spelling it out for us! Just then an Observer approaches the door …

… except it’s actually AsteriskAstrid, and they are nowhere near Manhattan, but instead at a lake somewhere, meeting Pacey and Olivia on a dock where they have arranged to rent a boat. It seems Pacey and Olivia managed to trace the signal to its true origin this time: an island out in the middle of this lake. They just have to shoot their way through some pesky Brown Shirts first, and they are on their way.

They arrive on the island, and follow the signal to a lovely lake house that is guarded by an older gentleman with a shotgun. The group explain they are here because of a radio signal? that maybe has something to do with a Donald? But this has no effect on Grand Torino, who insists that there is no Donald here, and no, he’s never seen Bishop before in his life and how about they just head home now, KBAI. However, just then, Mrs. Grand Torino and Baby Observer come outside to see what all the hubbub is about, and the Fringies are all ZOMGBBQBABYOBSERVERZ! When Olivia explains to Mrs. Grand Torino about the radio and the Donald, Mrs. Torino orders Grand Torino to lower the gun, that they knew one day someone was going to come for Baby Observer. OK, FINE THEN, Grand Torino responds, but first, what’s the password? Donald gave the person who was supposed to hear the broadcast a password. So? What is it?

And then this happens:

UGH, I MISS THIS SHOW ALREADY.

After the Terry Gilliam-esque hallucination sequence above, Bishop announces that the password is “black umbrella.” And so it is. The Torinos invite the Fringies inside where they explain that at the beginning of the Resistance, they gave what aid they could to the rebels, which is how they met Donald. He left Baby Observer with them along with instructions to broadcast that radio transmission every five days, and a scientist would one day arrive to retrieve Baby Observer, as he was important to a grand plan to defeat the Observers. This was some 20 plus years ago, and in the meantime, they grew rather fond of Baby Observer (whom they call “Michael”) even though he’s a mute weirdo that hasn’t aged a day, and long story short, they are very sad to let him go.

Back at the lab, Pacey and Olivia offer “Michael” a cup of hot cocoa, and Olivia asks him if he remembers her. He nods, and Pacey wonders how that can be, since it was a different timeline, but Olivia notes that since Observers experience time differently, maybe so do Mini-Observers?

Meanwhile, Bishop has flashbackpalooza out in the lab, remembering Ghost Assistant warning him off of breaching the universes and quoting Oppenhiemer to him and yammering about God, etc., and his dead wife worrying over him and how he fell into the lake that one time and how Pacey fell into the lake and REGRETS. So Bishop places the journal in a bowl and sets it on fire, but HAHA, joke’s on him, because there is no journal, not really. And, as Ghost Assistant reminds him, he’s been Scary Bishop longer than Nice Bishop, just as Bishop looks up to see Scary Bishop staring right back at him.

This episode? SO MUCH BETTER THAN THE PREVIOUS ONE. Sure, there were some meaningless red herrings (which is redundant, I KNOW); and Sam Weiss might have deserved more in the end; and, especially having seen the remaining episodes and knowing that it really has nothing to do with how the series ends, the manufactured sense of urgency that fed this and the previous episode (we must do this thing before Bishop/Pacey become unfeeling monsters! except that will never happen!) was irritating and unnecessary.

But don’t confuse those complaints with me disliking the episode: I really loved it (even if it didn’t stand up quite as well upon a second viewing as so much of it depended on the element of surprise), and it made me realize just how unique and daring this little sci-fi show really was. This was the final “Brown Betty”-esque episode of the series, the wacky episode that uses unconventional narrative methods to reveal an emotionally powerful story: this time focusing on Bishop’s deep sense of guilt over those who were hurt or died because of his ambition and singular need to save Pacey. This, of course, has always driven Bishop over the course of the series, but the hallucinatory visions were a delightful and novel way of approaching a plot issue that has been well-traveled. Additionally, this was the final episode that focused primarily on Bishop and his demons, and it was a fitting tribute.

I also loved this episode because it was so chock full of symbolism: islands and fairies and umbrellas, oh my! Obviously, the LSD-induced hallucinations are meant to illustrate Bishop’s consciousness working through itself. He both wants to unlock the secrets of the plan, but to do so, he has to go through and confront that part of himself that is dark and ambitious to a fault. It’s telling that Bishop uses the “black blotter” to open up this part of his brain, black being a symbol of duality, the unknown, negativity, oblivion. The black blotter opens up that other, negative side of Bishop, and threatens to destroy this kinder Bishop.

It’s also interesting that the eventual code word, “black umbrella,” repeats this color — or lack thereof. The code was shielded, covered if you will, by this other part of Bishop, as symbolized by the knight in Bishop’s hallucination. Interestingly, according to The Complete Dictionary of Symbols by Jack Tresidder, knights are: “a symbol of mastery of the arts of hrosemanship and weaponry, the virtues of loyalty and honourable service and the sublimation of brutish desires. … The Black Knight is a more ambivalent figure, representing either evil or the anonymity of the man who has austerely withdrawn to expiate his sins.” (pg. 274-275) As for the black umbrella, umbrellas serve as symbols of protection. The umbrella represents Bishop protecting the plan and the very code itself, but it also represents him protecting himself from his darker nature.

I’m a little flummoxed by the black umbrella being tucked in that tree filled with babies. This is slightly more difficult to unpack. Trees are axial symbols, rooted in the earth, but reaching upwards to the heavens, serving as a connection between the two spaces. They also serve as symbols of growth, evolution, and, as in the Garden of Eden, symbols of knowledge. That the tree was filled with babies was curious, and I can only assume that they represented the Baby Observer himself; that or some sort of amalgam of the Baby Observer and the Kortexiphan Kidz and the hope for the future, or something. Or it was just a really cool image.

As for the Baby Observer, the name “Michael” is very significant, recalling the archangel Michael. The word “Michael” in Hebrew means “who is like God,” and represents humility before God. Michael is mentioned three times in the Book of Daniel as a “great prince who stands up for your children” — a description that we will eventually see as being quite relevant to the story as it unfolds. He is also mentioned in the Book of Revelations as the angel who will defeat Satan in the war in Heaven, and he comes to represent the leader of God’s Army, a warrior angel.

Fire plays a significant role in this episode as well. The Dead Assistant died in a fire that was, somehow, Bishop’s fault, and she reminds him of this fact repeatedly throughout the episode. Bishop also burns the non-existent journal at the end of the episode, an act that is foreshadowed early on when a fairy brings him a match. Fire is a symbol of transfiguration, purification and both creation and destruction. Fire consumes, but it also purifies, and in alchemy it was a symbol of unification. The Dead Assistant may have been lost in a fire, but in her death she became part of Bishop, taunting him, a constant reminder of just what he is capable of.

As for those fairies, they are interesting creatures that represent different many things in different cultures; everything from protectors to guides to being the causes of sudden deaths. Fairies also used to be blamed for kidnappings — or, even creepier, with replacing a human child with a look-a-like fairy child, a changeling. It could be argued that Bishop is struggling with this changeling issue, his very identity being swapped with another; a soul that looks like him, but is very, very different. A more benign interpretation of the fairies is from this dream symbolism explanation: “To see a fairy in your dream indicates that you are in search of some help or advice for a problem or decision, but may not want to directly admit you need help. In particular, if the fairy is evil, then it suggests that an aspect of yourself needs to be set free. The fairy is also symbolic of your soul and the feminine aspects of yourself.” As since Bishop is being haunted by the women whose lives he hurt or destroyed, this seems particularly relevant.

The use of red and green is also interesting and might represent a sort of tension between two sides, notably Bishop’s inner struggle. Green represents renewal, regeneration, it’s generally a positive color. Red, green’s complement and opposite, is a masculine color representing passion, war, aggression and sacrifice, among many, many other things. Personally, I think the color of the fairies are simply a play on the green-green-red pattern that Fringe used particularly in the early seasons, but if we’re going to give them some significance, I think the take-away is supposed to be the struggle between two competing forces.

A lesser symbol are the skeletons in the woods. In retrospect, it seems they are more a means of concluding the Sam Weiss story than they are particularly revealing of grander themes or whathaveyou. Before I dismiss it outright, however, I should mention that forests represent the unknown, the unconscious, a place of trials and dangers, and skeletons represent (rather obviously) death. It is curious how much this little scene mirrors the DHARMA van with Uncle Rico Workman’s skeleton: the vehicles serving as tombs; the answer of what, exactly, happened locked away in the past; the dead being misidentified at first… It doesn’t mean a lot, I’m sure, but it is interesting to note.

As for that other Lost image, an island! Islands are havens (and sometimes heavens), set apart from the rest of the world used either as a sacred resting place for the good, or reserved for the gods themselves. The often symbolically, islands are magical places that are difficult for the common man to reach or access, and they serve to protect something special. This island, though not guarded by a magical smoke monster or a know-it-all who lives in a foot, harbors the Baby Observer, the One True Hope for humanity. We can talk more about child figures and their symbolism in later episodes, but what’s important to take away from this particular story is that the Baby Observer who serves as a mystical, almost God-like figure has been safely tucked away on this island for 20 some-odd years. His presence there makes the island special, and the island protects that specialness.

It should also be noted in regards to the Baby Observer that this theme of parental love and sacrifice is once again being touched upon, what with the Torinos reluctantly giving him up for the Greater Good, but wanting, as they note themselves, to selfishly keep him to themselves. (And returning to the fairy imagery, it’s interesting that as fairies are magical creatures that are known for abducting children, here we have the Fringies themselves appearing out of nowhere after 20 years, taking this child away from his adopted parents. Perhaps not an intentional allusion, but worth noting in any event.)

Finally, I will note that much of the imagery in this episode, specifically the fairies, the tree, the island and the forest, are all feminine symbols. I just want to point this out to once again reinforce that this episode was really about Bishop working through his guilt and regrets specifically towards the women in his life whom he hurt. This episode has very little to do with Bishop’s relationship with Pacey, for a change; instead focusing on who Bishop was when he was without Pacey in his life, and the damage that particular man wrought to the women who loved and cared for him.

Anyway! Symbols! Good episode! Bishop! Yay, Bishop!

Easter Eggs

The fairies are red and green, playing on the recurring red/green pattern used throughout the show.

The frog from Bishop’s hallucination is in the boathouse before Bishop’s hallucination occurs.

http://www.fringefiles.com/

Additionally, the frog and seahorse in the hallucination are cartoon versions of two of the glyphs. (The third creature, a small dog, resembles Toto from the Wizard of Oz, tying into the vision of the Emerald City that Bishop has when looking at the island. And, it has to be noted, that Bishop is riding atop Gene, the cow.)